


There Is Just One Thing I Need

by evol_love



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friendship, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Santa, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evol_love/pseuds/evol_love
Summary: Alex has been working at the mall for a couple of months now, and in that time he's developed a huge crush on Willie, who works a few stores down. Between meddling friends and a bit of stress baking, Alex is doing his best to handle both his feelings and the holidays.A JATP Secret Santa gift for @owens-joyner on tumblr!
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 109





	There Is Just One Thing I Need

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays! This is my JATP Daily Secret Santa gift for @owens-joyner on tumblr! I had so much fun writing this, and I really hope you enjoy. I saw in your little profile for the gift exchange that you love Alex, Willie, and Bobby, who I also adore, so I hope I delivered! 
> 
> Song title from Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" !

Alex is wearing reindeer antlers. It’s a low point of the past few months. 

“Aww,” Luke coos, booping his nose as Alex pushes him away, rolling his eyes. “We just need to get you a little red nose, perfect.” 

“Shut up,” Alex says with a scowl, glancing around to make sure no one is looking, least of all his boss. Alex was a seasonal hire back in November (why he thought working retail for the holidays would be a good idea, he’ll never know) and the last thing he needs is to be fired after a month because his friends keep showing up to bug him and _not_ buy the store’s overpriced sweaters. 

“Alright, be like that,” Luke says, turning moody on a dime like he always does. His eyes are still sparkling with mischief, though, and Alex thinks he really should have seen it coming when Luke adds, “I guess I _won’t_ tell you who was just asking me about you.” Alex swallows, weighing the dignity of his options here. 

“Okay, don’t,” he says, shrugging and returning to folding the sweater display by the store’s front entrance. “Where are Reggie and Bobby? You’re telling me you just rolled up to this place out of the goodness of your heart?”

“You _wound_ me, dude,” Luke says, clutching his chest and sitting on the shelf Alex is trying to arrange clothes on. He swats Luke with a cashmere scarf until he jumps back up and stands in the middle of the aisle, blocking shoppers in all directions. Can’t take him anywhere. “I’m just trying to be a good friend.”

Alex looks up at him then, not breaking eye contact as he continues folding sweaters. 

“Really.”

“Okay, you got me, Bobby’s buying Reg a pretzel because he forgot his wallet at my place,” Luke admits. He always folds under the pressure of Alex’s dead-eyed stare; it’s always satisfying. “But seriously, you’re not even a _little_ curious?”

“I can guess based on how much of a weirdo you’re being right now,” Alex sighs. And now he won’t look at Luke at all. Can’t make eye contact because if he does he just _knows_ his face is going to turn bright red, and that’s going to clash horribly with the antlers. 

Luke is quiet. Alex can feel his eyes on him, but he ignores it, just keeps himself busy and pretends that Luke Patterson has ever backed down from anything ever. 

“Alex,” he says after a minute, softer. Alex glances up automatically, then curses himself for falling for that so easily. Luke is looking at him with puppy dog eyes now, earnest and vulnerable and so absolutely out of place in this department store with its over-the-top garlands and snowflakes. 

“What?” Alex asks, defensive. Alex is curling in on himself, he can feel it happening, that body language that means he’s trying to protect himself. Hide. He’s not prepared to deal with any of this at his place of employment, in the middle of the day, in a mall, two weeks before Christmas. 

Luke sighs. He starts to open his mouth, but then someone is barrelling into him and cutting him off. Alex immediately switches back into customer service mode, only to deflate again when he realizes it’s just Reggie, Bobby a few steps behind him. 

“Hey! Did you tell him what Willie said?” Reggie asks happily, half a soft pretzel still in hand. Luke glares at him. 

“I was _trying_ to work up to it,” he tells Reggie through clenched teeth. Reggie’s eyes widen cartoonishly and he holds up his hands in surrender, pretzel and all. 

“Okay, sheesh,” he complains, turning back to Bobby. “How am _I_ the bad guy here?” Bobby looks amused, smiling softly at Reggie and saying nothing. He takes a sip of the lemonade he must’ve gotten along with Reggie’s pretzel, then turns to Alex instead. 

“I told them not to bother you until after work,” Bobby tells Alex, voice low and conspiratorial. Alex gives him a half-hearted smile in return. 

“I appreciate the effort. Can’t wrangle these two, though. It’s like herding cows.” Alex stops and thinks about that. “Wait, I think you _can_ herd cows, actually.”

“Who’s hurting cows?” Luke asks with a frown, apparently coming back to the conversation after licking his wounds over by the novelty holiday jewelry rack. He’s still pouting a little, and Alex can’t help feeling guilty; it’s not Luke’s fault that Alex can’t talk about his crush like a normal, non-anxious person. 

“What did Willie say?” he asks finally, setting down the last sweater in his stack and crossing his arms. Luke brightens immediately. He grins and leans in closer, voice dropping to a gossipy tone. 

“Well, we swung by Billabong and he was working—”

“Why would you go to Billabong in the first place?” Alex cuts in with a frown. Not that the guys can’t shop wherever they want, but he’d _specifically_ put in place a No Meddling Clause weeks ago, the moment Luke had beamed at him and gushed “You have a crush on Willie!” in a far too triumphant tone. Luke’s eyes widen, but he presses on valiantly, barely shaken.

“We’re taking Bobby surfing this weekend.” Bobby turns to look at Luke with a raised eyebrow, but he doesn’t say anything to rat Luke out either. Bobby’s always quietly letting Luke get away with things, and Alex gets it. Two weeks ago, Willie’s weird manager had come by the store asking if he’d come in on his break and overstayed, and Alex hadn’t said a word even though Willie was hiding under the display table. Sometimes your heart makes you enable certifiably weird behavior. “Anyway,” Luke continues, sounding annoyed that Alex isn’t completely chomping at the bit to hear Luke’s story. “Willie was working today—”

“—Which you already knew—” Alex adds.

“—Which I _already knew_ ,” he agrees impatiently. “And he comes over to us right away and asks how you’re doing.”

“Really,” Alex says, voice heavy with sarcasm. “You walked into the store and he immediately asked ‘How’s Alex doing?’”

“You’re the _worst_ at listening to stories, you know that, right?” Luke says, shaking his head. “Okay, he said _hi_ to us first, and _then_ he asked about you.” Alex nods at this. He nods, and he keeps nodding. He’s nodding a lot longer than he needs to be. He can feel that it is still happening. 

“Cool,” he manages, forcing himself to stop nodding. Reggie is looking at him sympathetically. 

“You should talk to him when you’re off later,” Reggie says, like that’s something Alex can just do. “Invite him to come surfing with us.” Alex snorts a laugh at the look on Luke’s face. 

“No way, invite him to Secret Santa,” Luke says after he’s recovered from Reggie throwing him under the bus. 

“Maybe,” Alex agrees, noncommittal. 

It’s not that he doesn’t think Willie likes him back. He doesn’t _know_ either way, and that voice of self doubt in the back of his head keeps asking _why would he?_ But honestly, Alex is reasonably sure Willie’s been flirting with him. The problem is that Alex has absolutely no idea where they go from there, how to go from Two Guys Who Like Each Other to Two Guys Who Are Dating (?), if that’s something Willie wants. He’s never really done this before. 

“Hey guys,” Bobby says, intervening. “Let’s hit Hot Topic before we go, okay?” He starts shepherding Luke and Reggie back out of the store, throwing a look over his shoulder at Alex before he goes. 

_Thank you_ Alex mouths to him, and Bobby smiles, nodding in acknowledgement before turning and all but shoving the guys back out into the mall. 

Alex becomes a model employee for the rest of his shift, though it’s mostly due to the fact that he zones out thinking about Willie and what the guys had said for hours. He turns his brain off and goes about his tasks on autopilot, tidying picked over displays and returning abandoned items to their proper place without thought. He’s so out of it, in fact, that when someone talks directly to him it takes a minute for him to process. 

“Hey,” Willie says. From the wry smile, Alex suspects it’s not the first time he’s said it. Great. Alex is an expert at making himself look like an idiot in front of Willie. 

“Hey,” Alex says in a rush, blinking and trying to refocus. “Sorry, I was,” he gestures to the store around him. 

“No, I get it. Sometimes when it’s slow I forget interacting with people is even part of my job.” His eyes flick upward. “Cute antlers.”

Alex’s hand flies up automatically to feel the headband he’d _completely_ forgotten he was still wearing. He groans when he finds they’re very much still there. 

“Luke already beat you to the Rudolph jokes,” he warns, and Willie cracks up.

“No, I mean it! I wish we had festive outfits down at Billabong, are you kidding me? I can rock a Santa hat.”

“I bet,” Alex says without thinking, and then has to resist the urge to facepalm. Why is he constantly his dorkiest most obvious self around the guy he most wants to impress? “Uh, just with your...hair,” he covers lamely. “I like your braid, by the way.” Hopefully a little topic change will go unnoticed, or at least Willie will pretend it does. And Alex _does_ like the thin braid woven near the front on one side of Willie’s head today. It’s different. 

“Thanks,” Willie says with a laugh. “My little sister’s learning how to braid right now and she’s obsessed with braiding everyone’s hair she can get her hands on. I told her she could do mine for work if she only did a little bit.”

“She did good work,” Alex muses, pretending he’s eyeing it critically. “Think she’d do mine?” Willie’s amused, but his smile is warm. 

“She’d definitely try.”

It occurs to Alex, belatedly, that he’s essentially implying he’s going to meet Willie’s family at some point, like interacting with Willie’s sister is something he has any sort of right to. He coughs awkwardly to cover it, as if the sound will someone cover something he’s already said. 

“I should, uh,” he says weakly. He knows there’s some kind of task at hand, but right now, he can’t remember anything that isn’t Willie, standing in front of him and looking good like he _always_ does, smiling at Alex like he’s saying something interesting and not making a complete fool of himself. 

“Yeah,” Willie says softly, saving him from himself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pull you away from your shift. I just wanted to say hi.”

“Hi,” Alex agrees. 

The guys might be at the other end of the mall, but Alex can _hear_ them groaning at him. 

“Hi,” Willie repeats. He lingers a moment, like he wants to say more, but seems to think better of it and back off. “I’ll uh, I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Wait!” Alex calls after him. He doesn’t remember deciding to speak up, but here he is. Speaking up. Willie stops immediately. It’s dumb, but Alex wonders if maybe he wanted Alex to call him back. “Are you doing anything this weekend?”

“I’m working on Friday,” Willie offers. 

“Saturday?” 

Willie just shrugs. “No plans yet.” Alex bites his lip.

“The guys and I do this thing every year for Christmas...uh, Sunset Curve Secret Santa,” he feels himself flushing pink, but Willie looks intrigued. “We’re giving the gifts on Saturday, but that won’t take that long and we usually watch a movie or something. Maybe make hot chocolate. Would you want to come?”

Willie raises his eyebrows. “Really? I wouldn’t want to crash your guys’ thing...”

“Not at all,” Alex assures him quickly. “Luke told me to invite you.”

“Oh.” Willie takes a step back, which Alex doesn’t get at all, but he’s still holding his breath for an answer so he doesn’t dwell on it. “Uh, yeah, maybe,” he says at last. 

“Do you have your phone?” Alex asks. Willie looks confused. 

“Yeah?” 

“It’s just—I have to keep mine in the back during work, so I can’t get your number, so I’m going to give you mine. If that’s okay.”

“Oh!” Willie brightens. “Yeah, of course, here.” He scrambles to get his phone out, opening his contacts and then looking back up expectantly at Alex. Alex recites his phone number carefully, repeating it twice to make sure Willie got it right, and then insists Willie text him right away so he has Willie’s number too. He ignores the way he can feel his heartbeat in his ears, and he even manages a semi-normal goodbye as Willie tucks his phone away and waves on his way out for the night. 

\-----

Saturday rolls around after the longest week of Alex’s life. He can’t stop checking his phone and double triple quadruple checking that he typed Bobby’s address right when he texted Willie the night before. He’s half expecting a text saying that he can’t make it after all, or that he doesn’t want to come, or that he’s actually already dating someone way cooler than Alex so he shouldn’t bother trying when he can’t even get up the courage to ask Willie out on a real date in the first place. But Willie’s way too nice for that last one, and the first two never arrive either. 

The only reason he isn’t also bouncing off the walls with anxiety about Luke and Reggie being too overeager about Willie is that Bobby had already promised to run interference. Alex is incredibly grateful for it. He’s got enough on his mind, which he’s channeling into stress baking extra Christmas cookies as soon as Bobby lets him into the house. 

“You good?” Bobby asks, amused as he swipes a finger into the batter for a taste. Alex winces, but he holds his tongue about the chances of contracting Salmonella from eating raw cookie dough since Bobby is pretty much the only thing keeping him stable right now. He needs an ally today. 

“Just, ah, you know,” he says vaguely. It’s barely an answer, but Bobby nods.

“It’s gonna be fine,” he assures Alex. “You have home field advantage...kind of. You’ve been here before and he hasn’t, so you can show him around and stuff. And I’ll keep the guys from trying to play cupid.” Alex can’t help but laugh.

“Good luck. They’re determined.”

Bobby shrugs. “I think it’s kind of nice, even though they’re being stupid. Means they care about you, you know?” It pulls at Alex’s heartstrings; Bobby does have a point. The guys had all been really cool when Alex came out to them a couple years ago, to the point of seeming almost disappointed that he didn’t really have anyone he was interested in. But now he has Willie. Luke and Reggie have been thrilled ever since they put two and two together and realized Alex has a crush, and even Bobby’s been happy for him in his own quiet way. Alex wonders if the lack of scheming on Bobby’s part is because he’s more mature than the others or if it’s because he’s too busy nursing a crush of his own. Alex hasn’t asked about it, even if he’s pretty sure he knows the answer. 

The cookies are in the oven by the time Reggie arrives. He sniffs the air as he takes his coat off, smiling at Alex knowingly. 

“Stressed?” he asks, nodding towards the kitchen. Alex sighs. 

“Always.” Reggie chuckles, but it’s not unkind. He sets the present he’d brought with him on the coffee table and settles into the couch cushion he always claims when they are together as a group. 

“Hey, look who I found!” Luke calls as he bursts through the front door. Alex’s heart slams suddenly in his chest, and sure enough, he looks up to find Willie coming in behind him. He’s smiling, somehow a match for Luke’s exuberance, in a sweater patterned with reindeer. Alex is going to lose his mind today. He can already tell. 

“You made it,” he says happily, walking forward and then lurking awkwardly in the entryway so he doesn’t block either of them from coming into the living room. 

“Told you I would,” Willie says, eyes bright, and Alex smiles back at him. “Thanks for having me over,” Willie adds, greeting Bobby as he comes back out of the kitchen. 

“Hey, of course man,” Bobby says easily. “Glad you could join us.”

“Seems like this is a pretty well established tradition,” Willie says. 

“We’ve had Secret Santa since middle school,” Reggie confirms. “But mostly it just started so _someone_ didn’t have to buy each of his friends a present.”

“In my defense, you and Alex both had summer jobs that year and I had no money,” Luke says, and somehow, Willie seems to slot right into place with the group of them even as they’re bickering about the origins of their holiday gathering. 

“Are they always like this?” he says softly, suddenly talking only to Alex. It makes him shiver. 

“No. This is them on their best behavior,” he assures Willie, who cracks up. It’s the best sound in the world. 

\-----

Bobby is the baby of the group, so he opens his present first, as is tradition. His gift is wrapped in a bandana, and he smirks at it.

“Luke,” he says before he’s even opened it. 

“You have to wait to guess!” Luke insists, but he’s laughing. 

“You’re so bad at this every year,” Bobby says, no heat in it, and he unties the bandana to reveal what’s inside. All of Bobby’s words seem to fail, and he just stares for a moment before looking up at Luke, a weird look on his face. “Thanks,” he says, sounding almost choked up. Alex averts his eyes, feeling like he’s intruding on something. He looks at Willie instead, widening his eyes and trying to convey that he _also_ thinks his friends are a lot and he’s sorry they’re like this. Willie looks a little confused, but he’s hanging in there.

“What is it?” Reggie asks, blissfully unaware. 

Bobby doesn’t answer, just holds up a set of Lokai bracelets like the ones Luke himself always wears. Alex raises an eyebrow.

“You said you liked mine, so I just thought, y’know,” Luke cuts in quickly. Bobby is still staring back at him. Alex coughs. 

“Luke’s turn,” he says lightly, and the moment passes. He catches Willie’s eye and he has no idea what to make of his expression. It’s somewhere between regret and wistfulness. He smiles at him, hoping to cheer him up. Willie returns it after a second. 

“This is so nicely wrapped,” Luke remarks, setting the box in his lap. “I’d assume Alex just based on that, but _I’m_ going to follow the rules.” Bobby snorts, significantly chilled out from where he’d been a minute ago. Luke rips into the package with little care for the paper, considering how he’d remarked on the wrapping. He tosses it aside, grinning at what’s left. “Perfect,” he beams, tugging the bright knit beanie onto his head. “I’m guessing this is from Reggie, because he was with me at the mall when I said I liked this.”

“Guilty,” Reggie agrees. Then, to Alex’s surprise, he turns and winks at Willie. “Had a little covert help.”

“You know it bro,” Willie tosses back easily. When Alex tilts his head at him in confusion, he adds, “Reggie had me hold this at Billabong while he was out shopping with Luke and came back for it later.”

“Mmmm, sneaky,” Alex says appreciatively. “I’m impressed.”

“I can be very impressive,” Willie replies. Alex gulps. By the time he’s able to switch off the static in his brain, Reggie’s already tearing into his own present. He looks thrilled at the guitar strap Alex got him, guessing correctly after a moment of contemplation. 

“Well, by process of elimination,” Alex says with a laugh to Bobby. Bobby nods in acknowledgement. Alex reaches into the gift bag (Bobby’s terrible at wrapping presents, a long-running joke) and pulls out...“Knee pads?”

Bobby bites his lip, glancing at Willie. 

“You wanna take this one?” Bobby asks him. Now Alex is absolutely baffled. 

“Bobby dropped by the store one day to set up a joint gift,” Willie says. He looks nervous, almost, like he’s afraid that Alex is going to tell him no. Which is absolutely ridiculous. 

“Yeah?” he manages.

“I was telling him I’ve been wanting to take you out skating,” Willie continues, a little sheepish, and Alex _gets_ it. 

“You’re signing me up for private skateboarding lessons,” Alex deadpans, and Bobby grins at him. 

“Only if you want to,” Willie says quickly, glancing around the room, aware that they have an audience. Alex loves his friends, he does, but right now, he wishes he and Willie were the only people in the world. 

“Of course,” Alex assures him. “Gotta be able to keep up with you somehow.”

Willie’s answering smile is so warm it aches. 

“I’d never leave you behind,” he promises. For the millionth time this week, Alex wants to kiss him. 

Instead, he settles for a quick hug in thanks, and he hugs Bobby too for good measure. Of course, now it’s incredibly funny that Bobby’s trying to keep Luke and Reggie from meddling in Alex’s love life, considering he’s intervened more than anyone. Alex isn’t mad, though, not at all. Not with Willie looking at him like that. Not with the promise of spending time one-on-one with him in close proximity on the horizon. 

With the end of gift-giving, the boys get up to raid the kitchen for snacks. 

“If I don’t get some of those cookies I’m going to _lose it_ ,” Luke vows, heading towards the kitchen with Reggie close behind. Alex lingers in the living room, unwilling to leave Willie. 

“So,” he says. “Now that you’ve witnessed a bit of the holiday magic. Have we totally scared you away?” Willie laughs.

“Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. I’m glad you invited me.” He glances towards the kitchen and his smile falters. Frowning, Alex follows his line of sight and sees that Luke is veeeery casually propping himself against the wall, right under the mistletoe Bobby’s mom had hung. 

(Bobby’s mom hangs mistletoe in the house every year. It’s her thing. It’s led to _several_ awkward encounters over the years. He probably should have warned Willie.)

“Looks like someone’s waiting under the mistletoe,” Willie says lightly, and Alex rolls his eyes. 

“It’s not going to work, Bobby’s convinced the whole thing’s hopeless, he’s going to have to make the first move,” Alex mutters. “Sorry about them, by the way. They’re seriously _this_ close to finally getting there, but it’s super awkward in the meantime.” Willie blinks back at him, frown deepening. “What?”

“Aren’t you...I thought you and Luke were kind of...”

Alex’s brain comes screeching to a halt. 

“ _What?_ ” he repeats. Even as he tries to process this, a few things click into place: the mistletoe confusion, the way Willie’s smile had dimmed when Alex mentioned it was Luke’s idea to invite him, the fact that he and Willie have been moving towards _something_ for months and he hasn’t made a move. “I wanted you here,” he hears himself blurt out. Willie blinks in confusion. “I wanted to invite you here today. Not just because the guys said I should, but because _I_ wanted to see you.”

“Oh,” Willie says, realization dawning. It looks like hope. Carefully, Alex takes Willie’s hand. 

“I know the mistletoe is way across the room, but,” Alex says, and when he starts to lean in, Willie meets him halfway. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for awhile,” Willie says softly as he pulls back. Alex presses their foreheads together.

“Me too,” he tells him. When he opens his eyes, he catches a flurry of movement near the entrance to the kitchen, and he huffs a laugh, rolling his eyes fondly. “Hey guys, you can come out of the kitchen now,” he calls. “Sorry about them,” he adds for Willie’s benefit. Willie shakes his head. 

“Dude. I totally got the best gift at this Christmas party. They can do whatever they want,” he tells Alex, and he can’t _not_ kiss him again after that. 

“So when are you taking me skateboarding?” he asks.

“Any time you want,” Willie answers. Then he shrugs, faux casual. “I mean, if you want to see me again.”

“Good luck getting rid of me,” he tells Willie, far more honest than he intended. “Uh, I mean,” he tries to cover, laughing nervously. Willie just squeezes his hand reassuringly. 

“I wouldn’t want to,” he tells Alex, leaning in for another kiss even though the guys have started tentatively making their way back into the room. Alex doesn’t mind the interruption. He gets to have this, gets to have _Willie_ , whenever he wants now. Whether it’s a Christmas miracle or the clever maneuvers of his friends, or just because he finally got up the guts to show Willie how he feels, Alex’s biggest holiday wish of all has come true. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Find me on tumblr @lesbiantoziers.


End file.
